


Reaching For The Stars

by RedRavens



Series: Ad Astra [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-09-16 12:29:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9271658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRavens/pseuds/RedRavens
Summary: When the Alliance turns their backs on Sophia Shepard, branding her a traitor instead of a hostage, she knows exactly who to turn to and cash in a favour, and if her relationship with Garrus takes a turn from Friends to an Arranged Marriage, well neither of them is complaining, not really.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The prologue contains some explicit Sophia/Sparatus, but that's all you'll be getting out of that pairing :)

WIDOW NEBULA - COUNCILLOR SPARATUS ROOMS - AFTER SOVEREIGN'S ATTACK

Sophia stretched as she walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at the beginnings of the rebuilding efforts around the Citadel. She sighed, crossing her arms under her breasts, she would have to ship out in a few days’ time, and she would need supplies, would need to let Garrus, Wrex and Tali out of her service, would need to-  
  
A rough finger trailed down her naked back, getting a shiver from her before a three-fingered hand started to caress her waist, the contour of her buttocks and thighs, drawing her back to an equally naked male.

"What are you thinking about?" Councillor Deciliam Sparatus asked, drawing her to his side, caressing her waist before gripping her thigh, his fingers moving no further.

"How much I fucking hate you," Commander Sophia Shepard sighed, before resting her cheek against him, muttering about stupidly tall Turians as they stood just watching the Presidium.

"Still? I thought we solved that last night." He whispered against her hair, gently kneading her buttocks.

"That was angry fucking, very fun to do, but I still haven't forgiven you." She sighed again, looking away from the Presidium, staring up at him, "have you?"

"No," he sighed, "this could've been avoided, you were right to call us on our shortsightedness," he snorted, getting an angry glare from the Spectre in his arms, "not that's gonna do any good now, people are already hailing you as the 'Saviour of the Citadel'" he hummed, amused.

"Please don't remind me." She groaned, turning her back to the window, covering her face with her hands and attempting to hide in his chest. After Torfan she should be used to fame - or infamy depending on who you asked - but to be hailed as a saviour? It was a whole different matter, Clara would laugh her out of the room, the spitfire.

"Alright," he rumbled, thoroughly amused, the bastard. "How's the fledging, then?" He asked, easily diverting her attention.

"Fledg- you mean Garrus? He's fine, should be out of Huerta soon, his spur and his feet got sprained when Sovereign fell on the Presidium, should be out and about tomorrow." She grimaced, knowing how much it must have hurt him, she also knew Deciliam would look out for her other Turian, but she still worried.

"What about the two of you?" He caressed her naked back, easily leading the woman back to bed, drawing her to his lap. He did quite like how humans and Asari were all so malleable.

"He's hesitant, I'm not sure what's going through his mind but it looks a bit like hero worship. I mean I'd love to take things to the next level with him, I wanna try it but I don't wanna push it, less so if he sees me as some sort of icon." She settled back on her heels, staring at the prime example of Turian male in front of her, he was gorgeous, an attentive lover and one of her friends, all things considered, even with their age difference. "What about Ceres? I heard she was still on the Citadel when Sovereign closed the arms?" She inquired softly, raking her blunt nails against his crest, getting a hum of appreciation.

"No, her ship had already passed by the arms, it's back on Palaven now and she's hailing support for the rebuilding effort here on the Citadel." He hummed, his fingers caressing her buttocks and going lower, finding her still slick from their previous night.

"Hmmm," she agreed with pleased hum, "I don't think I'll ever get used to how casual Turians are about sex," she sighed, pushing against his fingers.

"Please don't tell me you're complaining," he grinned, slipping a finger inside her, his plates already loose, "I can stop if you want."

"You do that and the Turians will need a new councillor," Sophia mock growled, drifting into a moan as she let her head fall forward in his chest, hips slowly grinding against his fingers. "You feel so good; how do you feel so good?" She moaned, her thighs spreading even further to give him access.

"I should be the one asking that, dearest," he hummed, drawing her even nearer, making her sit above his loose plates, only his fingers teasing her. "All soft and malleable, and open for me, all I have to do is touch you and you're already wet." He growled, slowly fingering her cunt, spreading her open.

She sighed, scratching the soft leathery flesh on his hip with one hand, the other going under his fringe to guide his mouth to her neck. "You're talking too much Deciliam, I've been awake and ready for a while now, and you've done nothing," she laughed at his growl against her neck, she trusted him not to mark her, they didn't have that sort of relationship.

Her hand left his side and his neck, holding on to his thigh as she lifted herself up pushing him away after a nibble on her neck, "looks like I have to do all the work, around here," she grinned, sliding to her knees, peppering his skin with open mouthed kisses, until she reached his lose plates.

WIDOW NEBULA - COUNCILLOR SPARATUS ROOMS - NIGHTTIME

She sighed above the Councillor coming out of her high, sated and, for the first time since Saren's death, feeling like she had actually won. They stayed in that position for a minute, letting the lull of the afterglow wash over them, Sophia naked on top of the older man, feeling his seed leak out of her. One of her favourite feelings after being truly and well fucked.

"What do you have on your mind now, Sophia?" The Councillor asked after a moment, talons combing through her hair. He was too good at that for someone with only three fingers, it was making her sleepy.

"That I'm about to fall asleep if you keep doing that," she hummed, content, fingers tracing the tender flesh above his hipbone.

"Sleep then, we've got a lot of ground to cover in the next few weeks." He thrilled softly in her hair, fingers tracing the curve of hipbone and thighs, he loved laying with her, she was soft, tight and she understood that for all he was fond of her, for all that they had a friends-with-benefits relationship, his heart belonged to his wife, just as hers was going to the fledging, and they were both okay with that. "Do you want me to put your fledging's name forward?"

"No, if it comes from you he'll be suspicious I'm asking favours in his name, and he hates that. I'll put his name in the Spectre jar for training, let him take it from there," she yawned, rolling off Deciliam, "now if you're done talking about work, I really do need the sleep."

"Suit yourself," he hummed, subvocals thrilling in amusement, "I plan to have my way with your body in a few hours," he half-promised, half-warned.

"Promises, promises. Just let me sleep." She closed her eyes with a smile tugging at her lips.

LAZARUS PROJECT HEADQUARTERS

The first time Shepard woke up, disoriented, instinct taking over to try and roll to a crouch and access where she was, she had the flare of panic as her limbs moved with a heaviness to them as if trying to Lift a Krogan.

She saw both people above her, saw the symbol above the woman's breast, heard both of them talking about numbers and sedatives, and the only thing her brain recognised as she lost consciousness was that she was deep in enemy territory.

The second time she woke up, with limbs aching, her face aflame and moving with half her strength, she remembered she was still in enemy territory, she listened as the 'Miranda' operative tried to guide her around and she made sure to hack every station she could, storing the information into one of the LOKI's hard drives, it didn't have as much space as she was hoping - just about 500Gb when she was used to dealing with Petabytes of data - but it was enough, she would look at the info later, why did they have her body? She distinctly remembered suffocating above Alchera, so how?

When she met 'Jacob' none of the questions had been answered, so she played dumb while trying to get as much info out of him as she could, she remained in her role when they met with 'Wilson,' and she had to swallow her sneer of distaste as Jacob decide to say who they were, as if she hadn't figured it out, if they wanted to treat her as a stupid grunt she would behave as such; she couldn't hold in her snort as he talked about joining Cerberus though.

She needed to talk to Sparatus, Anderson, Barla Von, Garrus and Liara. She needed accurate information, and they would be the only ones able to help her paint the big picture and fill in the blanks. With scenarios running in through her head she moved forward, hacking where she could and adding another LOKI hard drive to her collection in a storage compartment on her thigh, beyond thankful that HD's took a turn for the slim and small in the last hundred years.

She rolled her eyes at Miranda's dramatic entrance, ignoring the operative except to clarify which way their shuttle would go, leaning back on the seat and taking in her rest where she could, ignoring Cerberus questions. She didn't work for them, she owed nothing to them, much less respect.


	2. Chapter 1 - Archangel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Archangel... plus a little bit of the hunt for Saren :)

CHAPTER 1 — ARCHANGEL  
OMEGA NEBULA — SAHRA'BARIK SYSTEM

Sophia breathed slowly, trying to process the last five hours; in and out, once, twice, three times, four times. It didn't help. Cerberus, fucking Cerberus. Maybe the name was fitting after all, guardian dog of the underworld and they wouldn't let her in! Wouldn't let her die in peace!

She took a deep breath, staring at her cabin. She had disabled all surveillance in her room, turned off cameras and audio feed, had made an infrared swipe for all the regular bugs too, but she still took to hiding in her bathroom whenever possible, when her feelings threatened to overwhelm her. According to pretty much everyone it had been two years, she couldn't be sure she was still on top of everything. Couldn't be sure she actually had disabled everything, and even if she had, that damned AI was still watching.

Spirits she even missed Tali!

She needed to get a hold of the Alliance, needed to get an extraction team, needed- no, she wanted out of this whole mess. After the whole shitstorm in Akuze, she knew what they were capable of, even if she had heard the tale second hand while on Basic and seen the results later on. The Illusive Man thought he could manipulate her, keep her hostage at the cost of a few million people, he had no idea how selfish she could be, or how much she loathed Cerberus.

At least she had Garrus now, if he survived that blasted rocket to the face, fuck what a mess! First Tali walking out on her, with secrets from the first Normandy hanging all over her and painting a picture she didn't particularly like the look of, and now Garrus' life was hanging by a thread. For a moment she wondered which god she had angered to be dealt with such a hand.

"EDI? Is Garrus out of surgery yet?" She asked as she walked out of her bathroom, turning on her ‘private terminal.’ Sophia felt like snorting every time she thought about it, as if she could believe anything in this pit hole was truly hers when it was handed on a plate with no consequences. No, no matter how pretty it looked, a cage was still a cage after all.

"According to Dr Chackwas he is sleeping off the anaesthesia," Sophia nodded to the glowing orb, uploading her report from Omega's mission from her Omni tool to the terminal, leaving a copy in her own stolen HDs, just for future reference.

She walked out of her cabin and directly down to the Crew's Quarters and the Medical Bay. Everything about the ship bothered her. The too bright lights, the white, yellow and black color scheme, the fucking glass in the med-fucking-bay! At least they had enough sense not to put it near the beds.

"Commander." Chackwas said as she entered, honing in the drawn curtain, "Garrus is going to be fine, I've had to reconstruct forty percent his face, and almost ninety percent of his right mandible, but he's going to be fine."

"Cybernetics?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow. Chackwas nodded, before turning to her paperwork.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Commander? Is there something else?" She was polite, she was always polite and calm to Shepard, a direct contrast with the Commander’s burning rage.

"Along with the report on Garrus’ health, I'd like you to send in your report on me, every change, every implant, every cybernetic used while I was in a coma."

"Shepard, Sophia, are you sure? It- it's gruesome, even by medical standards, and I don't even have everything." Chackwas sighed, usually she wasn't one to argue, but the process of resurrection was an ugly business, it would've been kinder to let the Commander die, in a way.

"I know; I'll hound Miranda to give me her reports as well, just send in what you have." She dismissed the doctor with a nod, going behind the curtain and looking at the Turian on the bed. She wanted to sit by his side on the bed, wanted to touch him with the friendly familiarity that, for her, was new and only started to happen a few months ago, she still recalled how his hand felt on hers, he wondered if he did too.

Even if he did, it had been two years for him, she didn't know if she would be welcomed anymore and that was another truth she would have to get used to.

She settled for dragging a chair and sitting beside him, drinking in his face, the bandage holding his mandible together, the way he looked tense even in sleep. His face would scar, the plates would probably heal over time, but the paint would stay faded, unless he decided to re-paint them.

She allowed herself a moment to reach over and trace the paint of his Colony Markings with a finger, the dark blue on his face a sharp contrast with his silvery plates and her lighter skin. She wanted to say something inspirational to him, something funny, something he probably wouldn't even hear. But there was nothing funny about their situation. She pulled his hand towards her, fitting their hands together, his three to her five.

It was still weird, the rough feel of his callused hands, the blunted talons, the leathery feel of his skin, it was still weird the thrill he sent her into, not because they were two different species, but because he was Garrus. She didn't know if she would be able to face Cerberus without him at her back. She didn't know what she'd do to herself if he asked to be left in a planet and leave her on her mission.

But she needed to figure out what she needed to do on a hostile ship, without one of her best friends, if he asked to be let out; if he asked, she would honor his wishes. She needed to think and not be aboard the ship, and the brass had just sent her the perfect mission to do it, even if it was crass and in supreme bad taste.

She looked up, smiled at his stuttering breath and closed eyes, if she knew him at all he was in a light sleep but wouldn't wake up for another few hours, and god knew he needed it. She leaned forward brushing her lips on his forehead, "get better, Garrus, I'll be here when you wake up."

She winked as she saw a hazy, sleepy blue eye half-open in slow recognition before it closed again. "Doctor," she called, moving towards the door, "warn me as soon as he wakes up."

OMEGA NEBULA — THE AMADA SYSTEM — ABOVE ALCHERA

Spirits what a world! White and cold as far as the eye could see, a picture of the afterlife with the Normandy in the middle, like a fresh, infected scar.

At least her dead crew's family could now have some closure. She had collected their tags and would ship them off to the Alliance as soon as she got out of the Terminus Systems. Plus she had time to think, had time to figure out a plan of action until such a time as she could get in touch, in person, with the Alliance. She looked at the helmet under her arm, at least she had something from her previous life, such as it was, something precious.

She put it aside while she removed the armour, asking EDI for an update on her friend while she did so, which boiled down to 'he's still asleep.' Well she had promised to be there when he awoke. "EDI, which of these systems, besides Omega, has a viable electronic shop?"

"There are none, Shepard, however I can put on a requisition order if you'd like?"

Yeah right. "No, this is a personal issue." She wouldn't want the Illusive Man or any of the Cerberus tag alongs to see what she was up to. "Have there been any changes into Doctor Solus' whereabouts?" She asked as she stepped into the elevator, "has he arranged for a cure yet?"

"Negative, the area is still under quarantine zone, the Blue Suns have control over most of the area, but they're losing ground to the Vorcha."

"The Blood Pack?" She asked, moving out of the elevator and into her 'flat', the area was big by military standards, it also gave her relative privacy aboard a hostile ship, even if it was just another form of the golden cage she had been shoved into.

"Negative, the biological hazard also affects Krogan. Vorcha, however, are immune to diseases." Came the AI's soft-spoken voice.

Sophia hated that voice.

She left the old helmet on her desk, along with a picture of her, Garrus and Wrex. She hoped to God the old man was alive and well; even if she wasn't okay, especially when Garrus wasn't, she hoped he was back on Tuchanka as he had said he would. She asked for updates from the Engineering team while she changed into her civvies, a torn patch of fabric on the left breast the only sign it had been Cerberus’ property, she would not wear anything with that damned logo.

"The team is requesting to report to you in person and Operative Taylor has asked to brief you in on Officer Vakarian's medical condition," she raised an eyebrow at that, had there been any changes in the last eight hours she had been away? Had EDI failed to mention something to her in her track from the cargo bay to her quarters? As much as she didn't trust the AI, it was unlikely it would let off any detail of Garrus’ condition.

"Alright, ask him to meet me in the medical bay. That'd be all." She dismissed the AI with an absent minded wave of her hand, taking a last look at her cabin her HDs on the table, not connected to anything remotely electronic, the helmet at the table, housing the information chip from two years ago, the glasse-

"Operative Taylor has insisted in giving his report in the Debriefing Room, Commander." That soothing, calming voice cut through her reverie, _‘what the hell is that man up to?’_

"What the hell for? Never mind, tell him to meet me there in five minutes. That will be all, EDI." She stressed the last few words, eyes narrowed at the damned blue glowing orb, she really did hate that thing.

She signaled Joker on the cockpit, altering their destination to Osun in the Hourglass Nebula to grab the criminal known as 'Jack', it was a simple mission and she could take Garrus, if he was up to it; her experience with Chackwas made her aware that there was no use in recruiting a doctor before their work was done, and if he was as smart as the Dossiers indicated, he should have enough time to sort out the mess without her having to get involved. Hopefully.

"Taylor," Shepard greeted with a glance, looking around the room as one looking for hidden traps, listening devices and cameras besides the QEC.

"Commander," he straightened and for a second Sophia thought, with some amusement, he would salute her. "We've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit." Shepard inhaled sharply, feeling the blood freeze in her veins, it had only been eight hours, he couldn't- Garrus couldn't be- the fucking AI would’ve said something-!

Taylor continued after a slight pause, "the doc corrected with surgical procedure and some cybernetics, best we could tell he'll have full functionality-"

"Is there a reason you couldn't tell me that in the Medical Bay, where I was originally heading to, Taylor?" She snapped, arms crossed in front of her, she could feel the icy cold fear turning into hot, burning anger. The same way she felt on the battlefield.

"Commander, proper procedure states-"

"Shepard," she could feel the hot burning anger melting away as Garrus entered the room. She glanced at him up and down taking note of the damage to his face and armor, physically he was fine, with a huge scar, but fine. She heard Jacob mutter something about the situation, but her focus had switched, and they fell back on their usual banter as if time hadn't passed, god she had missed him! And it had only been two weeks for her.

"Nobody would give me a mirror, how bad is it?"

"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly, slap some face-paint on there and no one will even notice." She shot back with a smile, automatically going to his side when he winced while laughing. "Dismissed Taylor," she threw over her shoulder, watching him salute before excusing himself. You could take a soldier out of the army but you could never take the army out of the soldier it seemed.

"You know, some women find facial scars attractive, mind you most of those women are Krogan." He said with a hint of teasing and Sophia could see his left hand twitching at his side, even as he cradled his hurt mandible with the other one, she had seen the files Chackwas had sent, had read his on the shuffle to and from Alchera, and she knew how much Garrus could take. _'He's in pain,'_ she though with a pang.

"You trying to make me jealous, big guy?" She smiled at him, a hint of pink in her cheeks she was sure, embarrassed.

"Depends, is it working?" He tried to smile again, only to wince at the pull. Sophia frowned as she went to his side, touching his hand above the bandage, her stomach doing somersaults when he leaned against their joined hands, a litany of _‘fuckfuckwhatthefuckdoyouthinkyouredoingfuckfuck,’_ going through her head. It almost felt as if she was taking advantaged of him.

Garrus wasn't one to show weakness, not easily anyway. This, this friendship between them, this leaning in on each other, this whatever they had had between them, whatever had started two years ago was certainly that, a weakness and if the Blue Suns or the Blood Pack had known, this would have turned out very differently. "Shepard? Sophia? Where did you go?"

"What?"

"You were lost in your own world again, Shepard, where did I lose you this time?"

"Just thinking about what could have happened, if-"

"If Garm, Tarak or Jaroth knew about our friendship?" He sighed, it sounded tired even to her ears and she hated it, hated that she had put her doubts and insecurities on his mind. "It's no use dwelling on it, Sophia, you were gone, and they didn't know we were, uh, friends." She felt her stomach twist at that. "Frankly I'm more worried about you. Cerberus?"

She closed her eyes with a wince at that. Cerberus. Everything came down to Cerberus these days. "They..." She drew a shaky breath through her nose, "they brought me back, I was in a coma and they brought me back somehow, with a whole lot is strings attached." He hummed, looking at her, hands going to her waist and gently drawing her near, Sophia couldn't help but lean on him, resting her head on his covered arm, as if she was the one in need of comfort after all, not him.

"Is there anywhere private we can talk?" He whispered in her ear, glancing pointedly over her shoulder, at the console where EDI's glowing orb was observing them.

"Yeah, sorry, my cabin." She took his hand in hers, leading the way.

ATTICAN BETA — THESEUS — FEROS — 2 YEARS AGO

"They are decidedly unhelpful!" Shepard growled, going to the Mess and grabbing something to eat. She had left surveillance on the outskirts of the colony in case of any Geth attack, and her people were on watch duty over the colonists and the ship.

Currently Vakarian, Williams and T'Soni were keeping her company. All of them slightly uncomfortable in her presence, it had been worse ever since she had been made Spectre, for Vakarian and Williams anyway. She didn't know Vakarian very well besides his aptitude with a Sniper Riffle and his dossier from C-Sec with the reports from his work and investigations and general gun handling abilities, and Shepard knew even less of T'Soni besides the fact she had a crazy mother who aligned herself with Saren, but she had known Williams in and out of battle for a little over 2 weeks now.

A throat cleared as she sat down with her MRE's, she looked up to find the blue of Vakarian's alien eyes on her, "trouble with the colonists ma'am?"

"There's something going on here, they're hiding something." She growled, tearing into her rations with a ferocity born of anger and not hunger.

"It's a colony at the edge of the Traverse, Skipper, what could they possibly be hiding here?" Ashley said, shrugging and settling back with her own meal. "Besides mercs, companies pretending to be an altruistic org, or, why the hell not? A possible Prothean Artifact?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm, and Sophia, instead of reprimanding her for it, just snorted, amused.

"That's not possible," T'Soni shook her head, leaving her own MRE's to be eaten with the sort of look Sophia associated with civilians, she was even more amused when Vakarian just looked between the three of them, baffled. The Asari would soon learn that on a military ship you didn't get to choose what you ate, "every civilization, every species is supposed to hand in Prothean artifacts to the Council, or if they can't, such as the ruins on Therum, they have to let the Council know."

Sophia snorted again, shaking her head, "that's naive thinking at its finest, Doctor. Just because one should, it doesn't mean one does so."

"It's better to ask forgiveness than ask permission." Ashley chimed in, getting a firm nod of agreement from the commander.

"So," Garrus interrupted before Liara could respond, the naivety of T'Soni's views reminding him of his own when he had first joined C-Sec, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling, "what do you think they're hiding?"

"Hell if I know, but these people want to keep it under warps though," she shrugged, finishing her MRE and getting up, they needed to wrap up the Feros situation quickly, and hopefully with no more casualties than the colony had already suffered, with an idea forming in her head she got up as soon as she finished with the rations. "Wanna play detective with me, Vakarian?" She threw over her shoulder as she walked out, the Turian getting up seconds after.

"I was a detective you know, and a damned good one, Commander." He said stiffly, walking behind and to her right, his sub vocals thrumming with indignation.

Sophia stopped, turning to look at him just before she climbed the stairs. "It's Sophia, Vakarian, or Shepard if you feel uncomfortable with that, while I appreciate the deference you’re showing it’s unnecessary outside of the battlefield."

"Then it's Garrus to you," he inclined his head in acquaintance.

"Garrus then," she smiled leading the way to the comm room, "I got a report on all your cases you know? I think they were hoping I would leave you alone, what do you say you show off your detective skills and we go and search for whatever it is the Colonists are hiding?"

"Lead the way, Shepard." Sophia smiled, it was a good an ice breaker as any.

HOURGLASS NEBULA — OSUN — NOW

They had done another throughout swipe for bugs the moment they got in the cabin, even with Garrus still feeling the effects of a rocket to the face, finding only two Sophia had overlooked. His painkillers had worn off an hour ago and he hadn't wanted to go down to the Med Bay, not without hearing Shepard's story. They were both sitting on the couch - sturdy, soft leather, courtesy of Cerberus - she had her feet tucked under his right leg, as he held a pack of chilled medigel to the hurt mandible with one hand, the other holding her ankle with a gentle grip, thumb caressing the delicate skin - by his standards - of her heel.

"... And that's the whole story, got woken up with a fuckton of strings attached." She snorted, lacking any mirth. "I've got Cerberus operatives trying to be my best friends now, though!" She chimed with all the cheery disgust she could muster.

"Yes, what are you planning on?" He asked tapping her ankle with a finger, just a caress.

"Long term plans haven't changed Garrus, I'm going to annihilate these bastards as if it's the last thing I do, short of that? I don't know, gonna play the good Captain I guess,” she blinked at him twice, “but I'm not staying here a moment longer than I absolutely have to," she replied calmly, voice steady. Garrus had seen that kind of reaction before, it was the sort of thing Sophia used to manipulate people, it was that sort of resolve which had killed Saren in the end. "I'll find a way out; the Alliance has to back me up with this. I will not let Cerberus keep me hostage."

"You know I'm with you, Sophia, whatever you choose to do." Garrus said, taking her hand. Such a tiny thing, but he had seen what it could do, Spirits he had missed her! He turned her hand in his, fitting his three to her five. At first the extra digits in her hand has weirded him out, but just like her yellow hair ("It's called blond hair, Garrus! What do you guys call the different colour in plating?") but he had gotten used to it all.

Sophia smiled in relief, reaching for his hand and planting a kiss on the inside of his wrist. Garrus froze at her touch, and she paused, realizing what she had done and letting go of his hand with a sad sigh, "thank you, I was afraid to ask." She chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking at him, her stomach twisted unpleasantly, thinking of their own personal situation. It had been two years after all, she would understand if he didn't feel the same way anymore, but she had to ask, had to know, she loathed unfinished business.

"Garrus-" she paused, looking at him, willing him to answer her questions without being asked. Of course life never worked that way, no matter how much she wanted to, Garrus wouldn't develop mind-reading skills in the next five minutes. "Garrus, where do we stand? I mean, it's only been a few days for me, two week, three if I'm counting the time I woke up, but-"

"Shepard, Sophia..." He sighed, leaning his head back and wincing when he pulled the stitches, "it's been two years for me, I don't even know what I feel anymore, I still care for you, Spirits knows I do," he paused, unsure what to say, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"But it's been two years for you," she swallowed, nodding. God knew she didn't love him, not yet; the potential was there, the potential for something else, something bigger, better, for moving forward. She would back off for now though, she could be his friend, they would remain as they were, until he gave the go-ahead, if he ever did. "I understand, G, friends for now?" She attempted a fairly convincing smile, offering her hand for him to shake.

"I don't think we’ll ever be able to be just friends," he snorted, grasping her hand with, “you haven't changed and I know that, in my mind i do anyway. But I have, I've changed in ways you may not agree with,” he sighed, looking down at their clasped hands, “I think we should get to know each other again before we decide anything, how about it?”

"Alright, I'm not-” she stopped, looking at their hands as well, squeezing his fingers between hers. “I'm not gonna pressure you,” she agreed with a sigh, learn him all over again, figure out what she had missed, a game of ‘find the differences’ with him, yeah, she could do that, maybe.

“You've still got to tell me your story, how the fuck did you end up in Omega?" She asked, swiftly changing the subject and ignoring how he still made her feel.

Garrus sighed, leaning back on the couch, his hand still holding hers, her feet still tucked underneath him, "I let my feelings get in the way of my better judgement." He snorted, wincing again at the physical pain in his face. And as she heard him tell his story of Erash, Sensat, Buttler, Weaver, Monteague, Mierin, Grundan Krul, Melenis, Ripper, Vortash & Sidonis, Sophia couldn't help but think ‘learning each other all over again’ was going to be a wild ride, for both of them.


	3. Chapter 2 - Jack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll recognise some of the dialogue. Expect that to be the case until we reach Horizon, that's when things will get, well, even more interesting.

CHAPTER 2 - JACK  
HOURGLASS NEBULA – OSUN – PURGATORY

“Commander,” EDI announced, its blue Orb glowing in the Captain’s cabin, causing Sophia to growl at the AI, while Garrus looked at her and laughed. “The Normandy has clearance to board the Purgatory Space Station, Mr. Monroe says docking procedures will be done in 30-minutes.”

“That’ll be all, EDI.” Sophia sighed, getting up and stretching, easing up the kinks on her shoulders and back. She snorted as she saw Garrus watching her, an expression she couldn’t read on his face. “See something you like, big guy?”

“Definitely,” he sighed, also getting up. “Purgatory, Shepard?”

“Yeah, one of the Illusive Prick’s Dossiers, he bought a criminal named Jack, recruiting them for our mission. Wanna come along?”

Garrus snorted crossing his arms in front of his chest and giving her a mild glare. “As if I’m letting you step foot in there alone.”

“ _Letting_ me?” Sophia frowned tasting the words and leveling him with a look, “Garrus, I respect the fuck out of you, but the day you actually _let_ me do something or not, is the day I’ll retire from the being the Captain of this ship due to dementia.”

“Poor word-choice, Shepard, but let me ask you this, am I no longer your second-in-command? Am I no longer allowed to question your ideas?”

“Yes, right here, in this cabin, or when we’re alone." She snapped with no real heat. "But being my second doesn’t mean you get away with trying to order me around, G.” She sighed, rubbing her left shoulder, “I know it’s been two years for you, but you can’t have forgotten how I operate my ground team?” She asked as they moved from her cabin and to the C.I.C., to Jacob’s armory.

“No Shepard, I didn’t actually, but you’re walking into enemy territory, do you have any idea what’s the Purgatory space station?” Garrus sighed, following her and briefly glancing at the man in Cerberus uniform before selecting his weapons, checking over the Mantis and the Vindicator, counting over thermal clips and mods.

“Just what the AI and the Dossier told me, I didn't have time for research. A prison? Selling prisoners to the highest bidder?” She asked while glancing at him.

“Yes, a prison, coordinated by the Blue Suns of all people. I’m just saying do not be surprised if they double-cross you. And if you permit, I want to follow you.” He said, staring into her blue eyes with a steady stare she was still unsure of the meaning.

“As if I’d have it any other way, G, and we’ll talk about your duties later,” she smirked at him, “I’ve also signaled Operative Lawson to go with us, as the official Cerberus representative. If you think they might double-cross us-” she trailed off, reading her own weapons and changing into her under suit and armor.

“Impossible commander,” she closed her eyes with a huff as Taylor interrupted; there was no middle-term with him, it was either respect to the 10th degree or no respect at all for the chain of command. “The Illusive Man paid for the transfer himself, he wouldn’t do it if they were going to double-cross us, he knows how to cover his tracks at least.”

“Taylor,” she said in clipped tones. “When I want your opinion on something I will damn well ask for it,” she turned to the man with a glare, “until then attend to your duties in silence.”

“Ma’am.” He nodded as Sophia and Garrus walked out in full armor.

“Harsh,” Garrus commented, with a lighter, almost teasing, tone.

Sophia snorted, heading to the dock to prepare for landing procedures, “you seem to think I care, Vakarian.”

“What? About Cerberus? Even I’m not that delusional.” He snorted again, wincing as the stitches pulled again, ignoring Sophia’s look of concern.

“Good to know,” she muttered before spotting Lawson coming out of the elevator, she didn’t bother asking if she had everything the woman was competent in her own right she just wasn't used to Shepard's way of leading a team. Aside from that, they were finally ready. “Alright guys, mission is fairly simple: they’ll bring Jack out of Cryogenic Stasis as soon as Tim’s credits clear up,” she glanced at Garrus when Lawson bristled at the nickname, “once they're out, I’ll introduce myself and offer a place on the ship. Should be nice and easy, if the warden doesn’t decide to double cross us. Lawson you’re officially the Cerberus liaison in this, so you’ll be taking point when we enter.”

HOURGLASS NEBULA – OSUN – PURGATORY DOCKING BAY, AFTER JACK’S RELEASE

“Nice and easy huh?” Garrus shouted over the comm as he dodged the shots being fired at them, throwing a proximity mine, followed by a Concussive shot at an approaching Vanguard and dropping the Turian's shields.

"I wasn't the one who jinxed us!" Shepard laughed, sucking the barrier from an engineer before shooting their head off. Damn double-crossing Blue Suns.

"You didn't need to," he said switching to their personal comm channel, "we've got Cerberus for that!"

"Don't let Lawson hear that," she said, going into cover and reloading her pistol, throwing a Reave wave into an incoming soldier.

"You don't care for Cerberus any more than I do, Shepard." he reminded her, reloading his sniper and taking aim at another Vanguard, how many did the Blue Suns even had anyway?

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna antagonise a biotic in the middle of battle," she said, moving forward, aiming at a Blue Sun's sentinel, stripping their armour with Warp before shooting them between the eyes, "I leave that for when we're in the ship, she still owes me my medical records, the bitch."

"Medical record?" He said, stripping another Vanguard of their shield with a concussive shot, humming in approval at Lawson's well timed shot.

"Brought back from a two-year coma, remember? I have to know what they did to me," she said, motioning the woman to stripe another henchman of their barriers. "Let's get Jack and get out of here so I can shout at Lawson!"

She moved forward, switching to the team comm channel, cursing at the Heavy Mech on their path, "chain overload on my count!" She shouted, stripping the mech's shields before warping its barriers along with Miranda, leaving Garrus to shoot its head off, much to the Turian's amusement.

"Scooped and dropped!"

"Doesn't count if we did the dirty work for you, Vakarian!"

"Keep telling yourself that Shepard!" Garrus shouted, going into cover before lining another shot at yet another soldier.

Miranda gritted her teeth as they moved forward down the Purgatory space station, she had no idea why she hadn't expected Shepard's animosity towards them. She reasoned that for all Shepard knew she had only been asleep for a few hours, instead of brain-dead for a little over two years. She also hadn't expected the banter and camaraderie between Shepard and Vakarian, by all accounts, all the records she had seen, all the reports she had read, that hadn't happened aboard the SR1.

Granted everything she had on them were videos up until the Noveria planet site, and mostly reports from her human crew, after that the only record had been Shepard leaving signed recommendation to all of her crew, Vakarian included.

She stripped an Engineer of their shields with a well-placed overload, following it with five shots to the stomach, she knew she didn't have the marksmanship of either Shepard or Vakarian, who, she was loathe to admit even to herself, was better shot than her, almost on par with Shepard herself.

Sophia Shepard moved with all the grace and skill they had expected, a well-honed weapon created by the ICT program, a remarkable woman, who, by all rights - and interviews - had the markings of a sympathiser with the Human-centric group, she didn't seem to have an ounce of compassion for the Alien races, at least that's what the reports on Noveria said. She had no idea where the Shepard-Vakarian duo had come from.

"Engineer on your eleven Shepard!" She heard Vakarian say, their comms open once again - that was another thing that was starting to get on her nerves along with both of them counting headshots.

"Lawson," Shepard barked, startling her from her moment of inattention, "stop daydreaming and strip that fucker from their shields so I can hit him with Reave!" Right, she had to show Shepard she could and would be her second in command, not a Turian; to do that she had to start following the woman's orders, at least at first.

Sometimes Miranda really hated her life.

"Alright people, let's move out!" Sophia said as the last soldier was dropped with a shot from Garrus' sniper rifle, and started looking around for dropped heat sinks. "I hate working with Mercs, they always seem to think they'll get a better deal from someone else other than me."

"You haven't changed one bit, have you?" Garrus hummed, his visor zooming into a dead engineer and hacking their credits, engineers always had credits. "I shouldn't be surprised but I always am." He looked at Shepard briefly, grinning.

"You have Tim to thank for that," Sophia grumbled as she approached what was left of the heavy mech, then looking over at Miranda, who was just looking at the dead around them, "something bothering you, Lawson?"

"I- no, Commander," she shook her head staring at the Blue Suns insignia on the armour, "I just don't understand why they did this."

"We just told you. Money," Garrus chimed in before Shepard could, a thrum in his subvocals which she knew meant he was happy, or at least excited to be where he was. She was selfish enough to admit she wanted that purr to be because of her, "they probably got a better offer for Shepard and forgot how ruthless the commander can be." He said, throwing in a smirk her way.

"Honestly, you take a two-year vacation and everyone forgets you," she feigned a heavy hearted sigh before kneeling by a downed Vanguard and stripping them of their shotgun, grabbing the altered mod and tossing it at Garrus, "keep it for later, you've got more storage space than I do."

He snorted, walking up to Shepard and giving her a squeeze on the shoulder, mostly for his benefit. He still couldn't believe Shepard was back and fighting side-by-side with him, "I thought you might have forgotten I'm a sharp-shooter."

"I remember, Garrus," she turned to him, smiling, "you like to keep things at a distance," she taunted with a smile, an old song-and-dance between them.

"Not everything," he muttered, letting his gloved hand slid down her back, away from Cerberus' eyes, putting a little pressure just to let her know he was there.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Sophia said with a smile, leaning against the pressure for a moment before moving away from the carnage, toward Warden Kuril and the boarding bay.

Taking care of the Turian was easy enough, all things considered, taking Care of Jack, however, was another story, and Sophia was sorely tempted to just gun her down and tell Tim to shove it.

"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?" The tattooed woman asked, angrily pacing in front of them.

"This ship is going down in flames and I have the only means off it, I think you're proud, inflexible and bluffing your way out." She crossed her arms staring the woman down, for all that Jack was only a few years younger than herself the woman reminded Sophia strikingly of a herself as a teenager, bad mood, impatient and trying to dictate her own live without the means of backing it up.

"Shepard, how about we just shoot her and patch her up on the ship?" The Turian next to her said, his Vindicator still pointing down, fingers off the trigger and the overall thrum of amusement telling her he wasn't being serious in the least, probably just curious, _'I wonder what that's about, G, you've never trusted biotics,'_ she thought, giving him a quick glance, a silent question.

"I'd like to see you try," the woman, Jack, snarled, baring her teeth, her instance threatening, hands faintly glowing blue but still far away that she could sprint away from them. Sophia was hard pressed not to roll her eyes at the bravado, she had gone against Biotics before, all she had to do was drop their shields and shoot them between the eyes while they recovered from their attack and tried to raise their shields again and that, that she could do in her sleep.

"There will be no one shooting anyone," she snapped, ignoring Jack's barely concealed mutter 'good move', "listen you punk," she snapped, stalking up to the woman and staring her down poking her in the chest, feeling the too thin skin, the overwhelming lack of fat to the point of sickness, "you either come with us to listen to my proposition, or you'll get blown up to pieces or spaced, because I'm shooting this thing out of the sky." She snarled, they had T-3 to get out of Purgatory and all Jack was doing was stalling them. "Which's gonna be?"

"I'll stay, thanks," a cocky smirk, striking pose and crossed arms; arms too thin, a worryingly lack of fat, her bones were almost visible along with her muscles. Karin was gonna have a field day with the woman.

For a moment Sophia thought of striking her down in mercy, she also hated working with teenagers or immature adults, her own teenagehood had been bad enough.

"Fine," she said instead, moving past the woman, "friendly warning though, put a bullet through your head, getting spaced is hell." She looked over her shoulder, at Lawson's incredulous face and Garrus' slack jaw. "Move out people."

"You're just gonna leave her?" Lawson said, standing still. "The Illusive Man won't stand for this, Shepard!"

"The Illusive Man can kiss my ass for all I care. Move out, Lawson, or I am leaving you here!" She snapped, the dressing down she had planned for the woman would have to happen sooner rather than later. "Vakarian, with me!"

"Commander," he easily agreed moving to her side, giving her a look unnoticed by the other two. They would talk about it later, sure, but she knew what she was doing.

"Shepard, our orders-"

"Stuff it, Lawson, if you want to stay, then stay; I'm sure Cerberus can send another liaison to the ship." She moved out, counting T-2, moving to the docking area and up to the Normandy. She counted 30 seconds before Lawson joined them, another 15 before Jack cracked.

"You're just gonna leave?"

"Yes." She said, at the end of her rather limited patience. "Docking protocols are a go people," she said to the other two as she moved to the bright green lock, mostly for show, "if you want out, that's the only way you've got, Jack, all escape pods are either damaged or they're gone." She didn't look at Jack; she didn't need to.

Jack joined them at the air-lock with 5 seconds to go.

SERPENT NEBULA - WIDOW - THE CITADEL - BACHJRET WARD - TWO YEARS AGO

“So what do you think? Yak meat or Buffalo?” Sophia asked holding two packs in her hands.

“Both? Neither? I don’t know, Shepard, shouldn’t Pressly be deciding over this?” Kaidan asked, fist clenching at his side as his head throbbed.

“Pressly is seeing to the armaments, the main gun of the Normandy and general repairs, so we’re dealing with general stuff from the crew, food mostly, along with checking up with the Council to deliver the medallions and check see to our side missions.”

“Are you going to see Councilor Sparatus?” The biotic asked, if Sophia didn’t know him she would say he was annoyed with her.

“Yes, he’s the one I’m reporting directly to.”

“Not Tevos?”

“I don’t trust her,” she shrugged, nodding to the shopper to grab the Buffalo meat and the dried out Vug for Garrus and Tali. “I think the Asari hide too many things for me to be entirely comfortable with reporting directly to her.”

“But not Sparatus?”

“Turians are unable to lie, if I ask a direct question he’s honor bound to answer it somehow, which makes him more reliable than Tevos or Valern.” She signed the datapad that would let the shopper deliver the supplies to the Normandy, before turning to Kaidan, “before you ask, you’re here because you’ve got a headache, mirroring on a migraine and as bad as the lights here are, the noise of the Normandy would be worse.”

“Yeah, I was wondering that, thanks Commander.” He tried a smile, grimacing at the pain.

“I’ll leave you at the wards, near the Doctor’s clinics while I do the rest,” she smiled at him, winking.

“But-”

“That’s an order to stay put Alenko, I’ll do the rest.”

“How did you know?” Kaidan asked, the pain almost forgotten for a moment, maybe he would pass at the clinic if it got any worse.

“My brother was a biotic,” Sophia shrugged, “he was an L2, I learnt to recognize pain.”

HOURGLASS NEBULA – OSUN - ERINLE'S ORBIT - NOW

After they had boarded she ordered Jack into the meeting room with strict orders to Gardner to feed the girl, Spirits knew Biotics had one hell of an appetite and the girl had been in Cryo for a while before literally punching her way out. Then she directed Lawson to get the details on Doctor Solus from EDI and Garrus to scan Erinle's surface for metals, they would need it if she wanted any sort of upgrades on the ship.

She grabbed the datapad with the basic information on Jack, got out of her armor and under suit then headed for the meeting room, finding the girl with an empty plate beside her, downing a glass of water. She said nothing as she took a seat, just looking Jack over.

"What?"

"How are you feeling?" For a moment she felt like The Illusive Man, asking questions he had no right to ask, feigning concern and friendship where she knew that was none.

"You've no right to ask that," the woman answered, sneering, "we're not friends, Commander, don't pretend we are."

"Fair enough," Shepard allowed with a nod, "but I need to know if you're well enough to talk, if you're well enough to negotiate."

"I am," Jack said, her stance closed, weary of where she was. Good.

"Okay, here's the deal, your Dossier from Cerberus tells you’re a fairly good biotic, with power from A to B, if not a lower O. We might need that sort of firepower, we’re going after the Collector, they’re abducting entire human colonies.”

“You’re with Cerberus,” Jack said, leaning back on her chair, Sophia could see her hackles raise but she wasn’t out to threaten the girl, not even close.

“In name and convenience only.”

“What happened?” It wasn’t a question, but Shepard was more than willing to comply, the girl needed to know what she was dealing it, who she was dealing with, if she didn’t already.

“My last ship was torn in half by Collector, killing arguably a third of my crew, I got spaced in the process, suffocating due to rupture in my suit before Physics came into play and my oxygen deprived body made a dive towards the frozen canyons of Alchera.” She took a moment swallow half a glass of water, staring at Jack the whole time, her hands wanted to shake as she remembered the Omni-tool beeping with messages from the comm buoy, whoever was left of her crew in a panic as they tried to pin-point her location and she could hear it all, had heard it all as she tried to gulp her ending supply of oxygen, knowing she had only minutes. She still had no idea how she had survived.

“Cerberus came upon my mangled body,” she continued with a soft sigh, she didn’t know the details, wasn’t sure she wanted to know what had happened even as she planned to ask Miranda for her personal files, “they took me from the planet and kept my body while I was in a coma, they did experiments, rebuilt me in a way.”

“A creepier version of Frankenstein then,” Jack muttered, leaning forward on her elbows, glancing briefly at the empty plate, Shepard made a mental note to have Gardner cook her something healthy and filling. “Shit… and if I say no?”

“I’m going to give the order to head to Omega in a few hours, if you want you can stay there, though I wouldn’t recommend it.” She shrugged, an up-down of her left shoulder, “if you stay I’m ordering you to get some proper armor, Cerberus’ buying it.” She smirked, she did like having someone else paying her bills.

“And what do I get out of it?” She tattooed woman asked, crossing her arms, Sophia was starkly reminded of a sullen teenager.

“You haven’t told me what you want, Jack.” She pointed out.

“I want access to Cerberus database, I wanna know what they have one me, I’m gonna dig every dirty little secret and use it to destroy them, that’s my price.”

Sophia grinned, delighted, thinking of the recovered helmet in her cabin. “Oh I’ll do better than that, Jack, you’ll have your files, I’m giving you full access to Cerberus’ database.” She grinned again, full of teeth, “pass by Chackwas when you’re done eating, I didn’t get you out just so you’ll be killed from malnutrition, see with Lawson about your sleeping arrangement, I’ve got shit to do.”

“I’ll handle it; while the doctor may be a good idea, keep the cheerleader off me, that way I won’t have to rearrange her face.” Jack snarled, getting up, picking up her plate and glass as an afterthought.

“I’d pay to see that,” Sophia sighed as she leaned back on the chair, drinking down the rest of her water in measured gulps, her hands starting to shake from the memories, her vision tunnelling, she shook it off, she needed to issue orders.

“Joker?” she waited his acknowledgment before continuing, “gather all the probes from Garrus’ scanning and set a course to Omega, we need to speak with Doctor Solus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: Biotic power is scaled from Star Colour Chart:  
> O – over 33K Kelvin [this is blue]  
> B – from 10K to 30K Kelvin [this is blue to blue white]  
> A – from 7.5K to 10K Kelvin [this is white]  
> F – from 6K to 7.5K Kelvin [this is yellowish white]  
> G – from 5.2K to 6K Kelvin [this is yellow]  
> K – from 3.7K to 5.2K Kelvin [this is orange]  
> M – anything under 3.7K Kelvin [this is red]
> 
> For reference, our Sun is a standard G star, while Trebia’s a standard F.


	4. Chapter 3 - Memento Mortuus Esse

CHAPTER 3 - MEMENTO MORTUUS ESSE  
HOURGLASS NEBULA - FARYAR SYSTEM

She didn't feel the gentle sway as the ship turned back to the relay starting Jump protocol, she didn't feel anything but her hands suddenly trembling, suddenly unable to hold the glass of water, neither did she hear the shatter or glass as the cup fell from her numb fingers. She took a deep, shaky, breath, then another, then another, she felt like running, tired as if she had already run fifty klicks. She was out of breath, her heart racing in her chest and her vision dimming while her stomach rolled and she could feel bile rising in the back of her throat; she was dimly aware that the last time she felt like that was back during ICT training, in the last stretch to get her N7 when she was physically and mentally exhausted.

Her heart was trying to get out of her chest, the walls of the conference room a stark white on white on yellow on brown and she couldn’t breathe.

She needed to move, there was a ship to run, a mission to complete, there was things to do, the Illusive Man was still waiting for her report on Jack but her lungs weren’t working, everything was too quiet and white and yellow and brown and her heart was still racing her hands clammy and she couldn’t remember if she put the glass down and she should hold on to the glass she doesn’t wanna give gardener ever more stuff to do but she doesn’t trust them she doesn’t trust any of them and she can’t _breathe_!

She needs to move, she needs to move, but she can’t do it.

She can’t do it.

There’s the sound of people rushing in and she wants them gone, she needs them gone and she can’t voice it she _can’t fucking breathe_!

She can hear people calling her name, can hear them talking but she wants them gone she has a ship to run but she can’t- she can’t- she can’t-

Someone was grabbing her hand, she could hear the mumbling of them talking, could hear them talking to her, she could feel people grabbing her arms, her shoulders, two people, Chackwas on the right, Miranda on her left, asking her, asking her what?

“Shepard, can you hear me?” She could, she nodded anyway, her tongue heavy, her lungs seemingly going back to their rightful place. “That’s good, do you want anything?”

She needed to answer the messages on her Omni tool, the last message she got was from Garrus, she needed to answer him, but her throat wasn’t working. She needed to- she needed-

“Water,” she mumbled, focusing beyond Chackwas, focusing on the wall, why were they so bright? Cerberus had no idea how to work with anyone, it seemed, and they wanted her to deal with aliens and make them work for her?

She tried to hold on to the cup she was handled, it seemed too heavy to bring it to her lips. As if anyone other than “Garrus,” she mumbled, ignoring Miranda’s look, she needed to answer his message, was two years too long to keep him waiting for a response? But she did have a good excuse.

“Sophia,” the Doctor, Chackwas, she sometimes forgot her first name. “Sophia, can you understand me?” She nodded, slowly, deliberately, her lungs were working again, her fingers slow and unsure but she could feel them again, her thoughts slowing down. “Can you move? You had a panic attack and I need to get you laying down so I can check up on you, can you do that?”

She nodded again, moving carefully and laying down on the floor, she wanted her bed, wanted to look up to the stars above her, to remember they existed. The things Chackwas was saying didn't make sense to her. A Panic Attack? Her? She was about to ask the doctor if she was sure when the door of the Conference Room opened, she could see Jack standing to the side with Taylor, she could see a few of the crew members curiously looking, and the towering Turian suddenly kneeling beside her.

She could hear his comforting rumbling as she closed her eyes, suddenly so exhausted. She could hear the doctor shouting everyone out, saying she needed someone she trusted, all she could think about was that she had to answer his message, even after a two-year delay.

"-had a panic attack, EDI tells me it happened after her talk with Jack, her signals going haywire while she talked about her accident." She could hear Chackwas explaining what happened, but it wasn't the talk she had with Jack, not really, it was before, the burning ship, the thin walls protecting them from the void, her breath hitched as she recalled the empty black sky above Alchera. There were supposed to be stars.

Her hand was gripped by someone, giving her a temporary lifeline to the situation; she sighed as she looked at the three people above her, Chackwas scanning her again, along with Miranda and Garrus looking worried as he held the cup full of water to her lips, his other hand gripping hers tight. It was good to have him near her again.

"I remembered," she said, her voice ringing like a shout, but seemingly to be ignored as the women continued with their scans, only Garrus' sharp gaze was on her, narrowing as he listened.

"What did you remember Sophia?" His voice soothing, even as the other two whipped around to look at them.

"The void," was all she could say as she closed her eyes, so very very tired.

OMEGA NEBULA - SAHRA'BARIK SYSTEM

She woke up to a flanging voice near her, the day's events catching up to her with stark clarity as she listened to Garrus upload a report while refusing Miranda passage into the room. She could tell she was in her bed, could tell they were traveling, she could recall from Joker's complaints that passage from Faryar to Omega took at least 12 hours. She wondered if he had worked on a fixture around to that particular headache.

"-sn't trust you, Lawson, she doesn't trust anyone on this Spirits forsaken frigate aside from Monreau, Chackwas and myself." she almost felt like snorting, she didn't trust Joker, not after Alchera. "And seeing as she's unconscious and can't tell you to go to hell, I'm quite happy doing it on her behalf." There was a ping as Garrus turned off his Omni-tool with a groan. Sophia turned on her side, just looking as the Turian moved from her aquarium and down to sit on the L-shaped couch. He was out of his upper armour, covered in the black undersuit and gloves that all Turians wore, for a fleeting moment she wished she could appreciate the view, even though it seemed she was looking through a holo.

"Garrus?" She whispered, unable to make her voice louder. Even so the man whipped his head around to look at her, his eyes zeroing on her face, his mask cracking into one of relief.

"Astra,” he whispered, moving to kneel by her side, his big hands cradling her smaller ones. “How are you feeling?” He asked, his hand moving before he could consciously pull them back, touching her face, Sophia sighed, leaning into the caress. Garrus froze in place for a second before gently caressing her face, his other hand still cradling hers.

“I remembered,” she whispered; she didn’t elaborate, she didn’t need to.

“I know,” he laughed, the sound raw and hollow, grating on her ears, she didn't take offense, couldn't, not when she had the same response to stress and personal issues. “How much do you remember, Astra?”

“Everything, I remember the crew shouting for help, Tali and Liara shouting that I had been spaced, I remember my O2 line hissing as air escaped from my suit, I remember what the lack of air feels like, Garrus.” She laughed just as hollow as he did, hiding her face in her hands before sitting on the bed, “I remember my Omni tool connecting and the last message you sent me.” She brought her knees up, hugging herself while looking down, “I’m sorry I didn’t answer.”

“As-” Garrus cleared his throat before starting again, “Shepard, Sophia, you’ve been gone for two years the answer to my messages is a moot point by now.” He sighed, moving to sit beside her on the bed, “besides consider the message answered,” he muttered, hesitating for a moment before letting his hand drop on her shoulders with a gentle squeeze.

"-but-" she started only to have an uncovered blunted talon covering her lips, silencing her.

"No buts, you're here now, I still don't know what Cerberus did, but you're here and that's all that matters to me," he tugged her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "you're here, Astra, that's all that matters."

"Thanks, G." She leaned against his chest, taking in the coolness that always radiated from him, always a few degrees lower than herself, "I wanted to answer, couldn't."

"I know; I don't blame you." He muttered, chin resting on her head, hard mandibles against strings of hair.

Sophia nodded, accepting his answer even if she didn't agree with it, despite not agreeing with it. She should've been better, faster, smarter, should've checked her equipment, should've done something to escape the SR1.

"Stop thinking, Astra." She heard him mutter, his mandible moving against her head, almost tickling, causing goose bumps over her arms.

"What does that mean?" She asked instead of answering. "Astra, what does it mean?"

"It means I'm fucked, worse than I thought," he sighed, rubbing her arms. She decided against asking again, just enjoying his closeness. Wondering what his version of ‘fucked’ meant, hoping it didn’t involve another kiss with a WMD.

"I have to move," he muttered much later, dislodging her from his body, taking care that her hair wasn't tangled in his mandibles, "your XO will probably want to know how you're doing and the doctor will come up in a bit, are you better?"

"I'll manage," she said,

"That's not what I asked," he said softly, raising her chin with a finger, "are you better?"

She raised her eyes to his, before exhaling slowly and nodding, "a bit, yeah." Even if she wasn't, there was no time for breakdowns, she was the captain, the immovable object in the ship, it didn't matter what she was feeling. The one hour they spent alone after she woke up would have to be enough.

Garrus inclined his head in deference before gathering his armour - she hadn't even noticed it was on the couch - and slowly putting it on, giving her time to put on her own personal armour, along with her BDU's, by the time she was ready to open the door Sophia was buried under layers and layers of Alliance regulations and the need to be presentable to the Public Eye, only Commander Shepard remained.

Well, almost.

She quickly took Garrus' hand in her own, giving it a tight squeeze. "Thanks Garrus."

OMEGA NEBULA - SAHRA'BARIK SYSTEM - OMEGA STATION

She was still tired even after her 12-hour nap - turns out Joker hadn't found a work around to the long trip between Faryar and Omega - but nowhere near as crippling, as hazardous as just before her attack. She was able to function, and she could feel the tiredness slowly turning into her usual response to adrenalin, to combat, making her want to either punch something or fuck someone, she wasn't picky. She had ignored Miranda’s and Chackwas summons, had ignored the concerned looks sent her way, she would deal with it later, in the best way she knew how. She was functional.

And with functionalities came responsibility and the deep understanding that her crew was absolutely screwed. They had no armour, no shields, no proper gear! For all that The Illusive Man might be the brains behind their operation, he showed an outstanding lack of common sense on warfare. Then again, that's why he had 'hired' her.

When she had dumped the news on her ground team, three of them without proper armour and one with armour so damaged she couldn't imagine it offered any proper protection, she honestly hadn't expected that Jack would be the only one not complaining.

"Shepard this is crazy, we don't have time to outfit ourselves for armour, we also don't have the necessary funding!" Miranda snapped, crossing her arms and looking at her CO.

"That's why we're on Omega, you all will get a standard set of light armour and we'll outfit you with any mods we find, Vakarian here," she continued nodding to Garrus, "has spent the last two years on Omega, my bet is that he knows where we can find armour. Garrus?"

The Turian nodded with some reluctance, "there's a shop in Tuhi that I have a deal with, easy enough to outfit humans and Asari alike, if we ever run into one. It’s run by a Batarian though," he looked at her, clearly remembering her dislike, outright bordering on racism, toward Batarians.

“Great, so you’ll take point on your little incursion.” He inclined his head in deference again, eyeing Shepard with a keen eye, she continued after a pause, “so we’ll outfit you all Biotics with light armour, Vakarian gets a set of heavy armour while EDI monitors the situation with the Doctor, with any luck the District will have sorted itself out by the time we get him.” She looked at the four of them, “all of you, dismissed, Jack stay behind.”

As they trickled out of the conference room and back to their work stations, Sophia made herself comfortable on top of the table, legs dangling over the edge as she studied the Biotic. For someone who was supposed to be one of the most powerful biotics in the galaxy, the girl was severely underfed and outright tiny, even smaller than Sophia herself.

“What?” The girl glared at her, arms crossed in front of her as she stared Sophia down; or tried to anyway.

“I wanted to go over a few things with you before we finish docking protocols and I give the ok to board the station.” She continued staring at the girl, cataloguing what she perceived as weakness, she really wanted to spar with her to gouge how far along Jack was with training, or if the only thing she was good at was brute strength.

“Already? I haven’t even done anything.” She started pacing, from left to right in front of Shepard. Almost like a caged animal.

“I know, I’m not here to reprimand you, verbally or otherwise,” she grabbed the edges as she leaned forward slightly, “I’ve given the others a stipend to spend around on Omega how they see fit, most will spend it on mods for their armour or their guns, I’m willing to give you a bigger one, but I want you to get a few civvies for yourself, with the shit you're wearing? No wonder you spend so much time under the engineering deck.” She watched the girl falter in her steps, before continuing on her trek from left to right to left again. "Pretty much every single person in this crew has 3 sets of clothing, standard Cerberus Battle Dress Uniform, battle gear and civvies. I'm guessing if I handed you some of Cerberus BDU's you'd burn them or throw them out of the airlock?" She asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.

All the answer she got was a snort, which she completely agreed with.

"I'm thinking you'll be joining me in clothes shopping them?"

"Yeah, whatever." Sophia grinned.

OMEGA NEBULA - SAHRA'BARIK SYSTEM - OMEGA STATION - AFTERLIFE

It wasn't shore leave, not really, but since they were docked and wouldn't be moving for the next three-days cycles, Sophia saw no harm in letting her crew roam around the shopping district along with her ground team, all under the watchful eyes of Aria's own ground force.

She had left all of her ground team - all two of them anyway - with Garrus while she moved on to purchase some clothes for herself and Jack. The girl wasn't the only one who would gladly throw Cerberus BDU's out of the airlock; after two simple change of clothes left at the Normandy, they stopped at afterlife; again, it wasn't shore leave, but that didn't mean Sophia would refuse a shot of liquor in her systems, along with some companionship, as long as they had time.

After the day she had had, Sophia would use any excuse to get into a fight, and the Afterlife was a perfect place. She left Jack at the bar with strict orders to get her some Thessia Red while she went to clear the air with Aria. Again.

"Ah, my favourite Spectre." Aria said, putting the datapad away and turning to face Sophia as she went up the steps to Aria's throne room. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Aria," Shepard nodded in return, sitting in the couch, arms spread in the back, as much a show of power as a show of being unarmed. "Is the situation solved with Doctor Solus?"

"The situation is worse by the hour," the Asari Matriarch snapped, though not, surprisingly, at Sophia. "Mordin supposedly has the cure, however no one is able to get to the life support fans and administer the antidote," she said, though the only outwards sign of anger was the tightening of her fists. "Worse is that life support itself went off in Gozu about two hours ago and I can't send troops! Humans and Vorcha are immune, and I can't send either to the slums because they'll be gunned down. Which just leaves you." She snapped again, looking at Sophia, almost a glare.

"I didn't plan this, if that's what you're asking, but yes, it does fit my purposes." Sophia smiled, shark like, full of teeth, full of 'I know something you don't.'

"What's your price?"

"Let Mordin Solus go."

"I'm not keeping him," Aria waved the notion off, a mockery of annoyance.

"I don't buy it." Sophia said, leaning forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped together, and looking at Aria. "Nothing goes on in this station without your say so, T'Loak, the only reason I took Archangel was because you let me, because he was starting to interfere with your business."

"Yes and you brought him back on the station, see how well it turned out for me." Aria rolled her eyes, turned sideways to face the Spectre.

"I want your word, if Mordin wants to go with me, you'll let him." She said, steadily staring at the Asari.

"Fine, you have it. Just make it quick, the contamination will soon spread out of his hole in the ground." Aria sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, Sophia allowed herself a moment to smirk in victory, one down, five hundred to go.

"Thank you," she nodded in thanks as she got up, fishing her own datapad and handing it to the Asari, "by the way you might want to look at that."

She left to the sound of the Asari shouting at one of the underlings.

After getting directions from Grizz that Jack was on the lower level of the club, Sophia left with a cursory glance at the main floor, seeing none of her crew.

"Status report." She demanded on her comm-line as she walked to the lower levels of Afterlife, skirting around the human whores out in the open, and scanning the lower dance floor for signs of her crew.

"Commander, we're back on the Normandy, putting our gear away" Miranda said, crispy clear, clearly waiting orders with just a hint of annoyance, as if Sophia would care.

"Send me Jacob and Garrus, I'm on the lower floor of Afterlife, looking for Jack," Sophia said, looking around and stopping next to an armed Turian, barely hearing Miranda's agreement before she asked for a beer.

"You do not want to drink that, sweetheart," the Turian murmured next to her, eyeing the Batarian bartender. She followed his gaze, measuring the guy from top to bottom, her lip curling in distaste, she had no love for Batarians.

"Maybe you're right," she agreed, eyeing his drink, "maybe you'll want to share yours with me then?" She smirked at the Turian, eyeing him from fringe to feet before eyeing the full bottle.

"Maybe I can be convinced of it," he man stepped closer, running his gloved talons along her arm, his grip lacking in strength but then, she reasoned, he was probably one of those that thought humans were squishy and easily breakable.

"Name's Sophia" she offered with a smile, "so what are you having?" She asked instead, making herself comfortable near the stranger, she had seen him around, Captain... Something.

"Gavorn," he tilted his head in respect - even with rogues the Hierarchy left its mark, and she wasn't surprised to see he recognised her. "Want to tell me what a dead Spectre's doing here? Or are you here just to make me a happy Turian?" He asked with a tilt of his head, his hand going lower, gripping her waist.

“I just wanted a drink, to unwind until my team gets here, the company’s appreciated though.” She added with a smile, her gloved fingers on his hand, a little bit of pressure on his wrist – mostly to show she was, in fact, available; he was handsome enough, she wouldn’t mind the company at all.

But not right then, though. Unfortunately they didn't have time, not if what Aria told her was true. "Sadly I won't make you a happy Turian." She shrugged, easily sliding out of his grip, "I've got Aria's little problem to take care of before we can have any sort of fun that doesn't involve me getting a glass of that." She said pointing at the glass he was filling.

"Yeah, heard about that." Gavorn slid the tumbler over to her anyway, a smirk playing on his features. "Also your mate's heading this way."

She blinked rapidly before turning around, scanning the bar for Garrus, a muttered complaint on her lips as she smiled at the tall grey, red and blue form. It suited him. “What is it, Garrus?” She asked as he came near them, near enough to touch.

“Jacob’s heading this way,” he said, glaring at Gavorn over her hear.

She nodded at him before turning back at to the Captain, it was a matter of seconds to send her extranet address to the amused Turian and, as far as booty calls went, she could have done worse on Omega. “I’ll ring you up next time we pass by, deal?”

She didn’t wait for an answer, instead following her Turian to the boot Jack had seized for them, with two glasses of hard liquor in front of her, and ignoring the irritated looks Garrus was throwing her way.

“Really wouldn’t do that if I were you, girlie.” She said as a form of greeting, with a nod towards the Batarian bartender as the only justification she offered.

“So he’s still here,” Garrus growled and she couldn’t be sure if it was the reminiscent of her little non-existent stint with Aria’s Captain or if he really just wanted the Batarian dead, probably a little bit of both. “Archangel was meant to deal with him weeks ago.”

Jack snorted, eyeing the glass with longing, it was a Thessia Red after all. “You know that fucker?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” She sighed, leaning back on her seat. “What?” she asked when she saw Jack looking at her in interest.

“A Turian? Really?” Jack snorted again, nodding towards the captain who was looking at her with a smirk.

“Turian, Human, Asari, Quarian on a memorable occasion.” Sophia shrugged, “the only thing I’m picky about in my lovers is how good they follow on their promises, or if they’ll keel over and die if they’re on the D-spectrum.” She shrugged, ignoring Garrus' eyeroll in her direction.

“I’m sorry,” Jack interrupted with a laugh, “D-Spectrum?”

“Dextro-aminoacids is too long to say, so D-Spectrum.”

“You do know how that sounds, right?”

“It’s completely intentional, Jack, trust me.” She snorted getting up from their boot when she saw Jacob heading their way.

“Right, we got a mission to prepare for!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, thoughts on the panic attack?


	5. Chapter 4 - The streets Of Omega

CHAPTER 4 - THE STREETS OF OMEGA  
OMEGA NEBULA - SAHRA'BARIK SYSTEM - OMEGA STATION

"So let me get this straight," Jack started, "we're dealing with a plague that kills everything but humans and Vorcha, on a part of Omega that doesn't have life support, and you plan to bring us down there." The girl crossed her arms, raising an incredulous eyebrow at Sophia.

"That's the gist of it, yeah." The Commander said, leaning back on the hard couch, watching over the bar crowd with lazy eyes. "One of the reasons why I insisted on you people getting a set of full armour, they have inbuilt oxygen tank and life support, as well as medigel pockets, that is, if you all actually got your armour right. Did they?" She directed her question at the seemingly annoyed Turian, arching an eyebrow.

"With a lot of complaints, but yes we did." Garrus sighed sitting beside her, slouching on his seat, one hand resting on his glass of Dextro Spirits and the other on his lap; as laid back as she was pretending to be, though she knew he was as alert to their surroundings as she was.

"I didn't." Jack said, glaring at the glass of poisoned Red Thessia in front of her, probably debating the merits of downing the liquid anyway.

"We'll get yours later, girlie," she sighed, pulling the glasses towards her, running a simple diagnostic check. It was definitely tainted, and not in a good way. "First we've gotta find the Professor, and I'm gonna ask you to head back to the ship or keep in the Afterlife area, you've got zero armour and I'm not getting you killed five minutes after enlisting you on my crew."

"We usually wait fifteen minutes before getting anyone unintentionally killed," Garrus drawled next to her, hand coming to rest on her thigh, she felt the pressure of him squeezing her knee.

She shrugged, agreeing with the statement and grabbing Garrus' hand under the table, she would squeeze his back in reassurance, but she doubted he would feel it, what with his heavy armour in the way. "Okay, Jacob we're dealing with a high number of Blood Pack soldiers, so I'm gonna need your Incendiary ammo."

"You've got it," the Biotic nodded, while she thought who she could bring, as much as she wanted her Turian at her back-

"I know Omega best, Commander," Garrus said, almost as if he was reading her thoughts, "even with the plague, I'm sure I can lead you to the Professor in optimal time."

"Maybe," she wouldn't give in, not yet, she needed to think, needed to know more about the plague, dissemination methods, incubation time and if Garrus would just keel over and die, what with half of his face missing.

She sighed inwardly, giving in to temptation and squeezing his hand despite the fact he probably wouldn't feel it, the thrum of his subvocals reverberating through her in deference.

"Okay, Jacob I want you and Garrus to scout the area, get me the Intel we need, what, exactly, is the plague, what are the dissemination methods, I want facts even through the virus is probably airborne, I need to know if there's any Blue Suns left in the area so we can create havoc between them and the Blood Pack and keep attention off us. Meet me back here in half an hour, Jack you're with me." She ordered, nodding towards the door.

"I'm guessing I'm here with you for a reason?" Jack asked as soon as they stepped out of Purgatory, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You're going to stand on guard duty while I talk to my accountant; I've got a few things to take care of, a bit of money to get back, before I head anywhere on Cerberus' dime."

"You've got a ship for that, with a private cabin," Jack pointed out, matching her stride for stride while they walked, "and if you wanted guard duty why didn't you bring the Turian?"

Shepard just snorted, shaking her head, "don’t be naïve, Jack. Also Garrus knows what I need to do and he knows I need to do it off ship, besides," she said with a smile, "he is on guard duty." They stepped into the market district, she wondered if Kenn was still in his salvage shop, where she was heading, "not to mention he's a damned good detective, he'll get me something about the locked in District, even if Taylor turns out to be a tool."

"Detective?" Jack arched an eyebrow as they passed by Harrot, the Elcor's monotone voice drifting towards them as he talked to another customer. "Seriously?"

"Yup, one of the best even," she grinned to herself, beyond proud of her Turian. "He left C-Sec about two years ago, last I heard Palin was still cursing my name for that one."

To that Jack just snorted muttering about strange coping mechanisms. They were just around the corner from the Quarian's shop when they heard the unmistakable sound of a Vorcha's threatening hiss followed by gunshots and the popping of a heat sink hitting the ground.

Shepard quickened into a run, rounding the corner with her pistol raised, only to see the Vorcha's head explode in a shower of reddish gore on the floor, the Quarian with his shotgun cocked and ready.

"Kenn?" She asked a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Commander?" He asked back, the opaque faceplate meant she couldn't see him, not really, though she had the impression he was looking at her with raised eyebrows or what passed for eyebrows among the Quarians.

"We heard gunshots, are you okay?" She asked while scanning the immediate area, making a conscious decision to take her finger off the trigger.

"Yeah, just the usual, Vorcha trying to shake down some money, I've dealt with worse," the Quarian shrugged, it was such a fluid human gesture that it made Shepard grin at it, "so what can I do for you Commander?" He asked.

"Do you have any Anonymous terminals I could use?"

WIDOW NEBULA - THE CITADEL - FINANCIAL DISTRICT - 2 YEARS AGO

"Thanks, Barla Von, I'm leaving the hospital's contact with you, in case anything happens, but I don't think it will be necessary for at least 10 years," Sophia said to the Volus next to her, a stack of data pads next to them, all signed.

"It's no trouble at all, Commander," he responded with the characteristic breathless speech of the Vol-clan, "now if you'll excuse me," a breath, "I need to file these into customs and provide the hospital paperwork for your brother." They quickly exchanged pleasantries before the man departed with the data pads in hand, leaving the Commander alone.

She leaned back on the bench observing the Presidium lake, marvelling for a moment at the complexity of the Citadel, with all systems operating in near perfection, to the point she could almost forget she was on a space station.

She opened her Omni tool with a hum, sending a low frequency buzz all around her position, making the Turians in range flinch slightly, some turning to glare at her, and a deep rumbling grow to reach her ears.

"That was unnecessary Commander," came the flanging voice of her Turian teammate directly in her earpiece and she snorted, not bothering to seek him out in the crowd.

"How much did you hear? And why were you attempting to follow me?" She asked when he didn't say anything further.

"I didn't know you had a brother, or dealings with Barla Von?" The man asked back, his flanged voice somewhat sheepish, though not, she was surprised to hear, apologetic.

"And you'll continue to pretend you don't know, if you want to continue in my good graces," she said somewhat unpleasantly, "get your bony ass over here, Vakarian," she ordered, slouching even more in her seat, it had been such a good day too, but maybe she didn't have to call it off, not just yet.

"I never quite understood why you humans slouch so much," he said a few minutes later as he approached her, sitting carefully by her side; the proverbial walking on eggshells she was pleased to see.

"Why were you following me?" She fired at him, still slouching, Garrus noted it was the sort of presence he would overlook at first sight, but he could tell she was moments away from being angry with him, it took him by surprise the sudden realisation that he didn’t want to be in her bad graces, with Executor Palin he could care less about the man’s moods.

"You were acting odd when we got out of the ship, we- I was worried," he corrected with a sigh, a somewhat apologetic rumble to his subvocals.

Sophia wondered if he knew about her implants, if he knew she could somewhat understand his subvocals, could discern meaning behind them; not that it mattered, but a flustered and apologetic Garrus was a very cute Garrus, he reminded her of Blue.

"So you decided to follow me? Next time just ask." She shook her head, straightening on her seat.

"You wouldn't answer truthfully if I did," she laughed at the distinct reprimand in his voice, he was right after all, she looked up at him with a slight smile, her anger cooling down.

"I promise you I will from now on," she smiled at him, she had come to rely on Garrus on and off the battlefield, the jump from being teammates to friends now seemingly effortless, "and I don't back down on my promises."

"So?"

"So if you so much as breathe a word of what I'm about to tell you, I'll kill you," she shrugged, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "I have a brother, Michael, he's been in a coma for the past six years."

Garrus just blinked at her, taking in her words at face value and mentally comparing his CO's mental state now to how she was acting directly after Feros, he understood better her ferocity and ruthlessness towards the Thorian now, taking the colonists minds hostage, keeping them under its thrall. It was a place she could do something, unlike in the chair of a hospital waiting for someone that would could never wake up.

"Have you heard of Akuze?" She asked, turning to him and catching his eye, she continued when he nodded, "my brother was in that unit, we were trying to make ends meet by joining the military, he had joined six years previously, hoping for revenge against the Batarians." She shrugged, she remembered how angry they both were over the raid; it was mostly grief over losing their parents. Revenge, as it were, was to be hers.

"I heard about it, Tressher maw nest, right?"

"Yeah, they were a klick away from the nest, and that means..." she trailed off, refusing to look at him.

"That means pretty much nothing when it comes to Tressher maws, Spirits," he breathed, laying a hand on hers, he had come to understand that humans found that particular gesture comforting.

"Yeah,” she stared at their hands, it was weird his three fingers to her five, “he was shipped back home with two missing limbs, he's been in a coma ever since, some days I think it would be kinder to kill him," she swallowed back the urge to tear up, squeezing his hand in hers instead, "Barla Von is... a new acquaintance, during this run for Saren we've been seeing a lot of credits, I'd hate to see the Alliance get a hold of it if I ever go MIA."

"You don't care much for your Alliance, do you?" He pointed out, looking down at their hands with some fascination, his hand covering all of hers along with her wrist.

"I don't. Kaidan and Ash may bleed Alliance blue, I don't, to me they’re a means to an end." She smiled at him with a helpless shrug.

OMEGA NEBULA - SAHRA'BARIK SYSTEM - OMEGA STATION - NOW

"I will be more than glad to accommodate you, Commander, I just need to confirm you're really the real Sophia McCain Shepard, I hope you understand?" The Volus on the other side of the rudimentary screen asked.

"Of course, I expected nothing less, I'm sending you my new extranet address, if you'll be so kind to send me your business hours as well as free allotted time? I'm on a mission at the moment, it would take me around five days, GS, to be there so I'll need to free my schedule somewhat." She leaned back on the boot, sending the coordinates to Barla Von.

"Of course, Commander, if that'll be all?" They exchanged pleasantries before he turned off the call, Sophia feeling as if part of the weight on her shoulders was finally off. Barla von had followed her instructions to the letter, Michael had been moved to Huerta Memorial after her death under the Council's indirect care, and her money had amounted to a nice fortune, all things considered.

She leaned back on the terminal's bench, glancing at the clock, they still had five minutes until their meeting with Garrus and Taylor, so she nodded to the woman slouching on the store and turned to the Quarian, both of them leaving after Sophia paid her dues.

"So what now Boss Lady?"

"Now you're going back to the ship, to put all your shit away, while Garrus, Taylor and I go and solve the mess the Doctor got himself in." Sophia just nodded back in the direction they had come from, ignoring Jack's not-so-muttered curses.

If Jack wanted to face Krogan, Vorcha and whatever shit the Blue Suns could come up with, she would need to get some incendiary ammo in her arsenal. She passed by Harrot's on her way to the Gozu district, making a mental note to stop by and see if he had any model ships for her collection, and, as she approached entrance, she could clearly hear the human and Turian having a friendly 'discussion' about letting the woman enter the quarantine zone.

She sent a message to Garrus' Omnitool telling him to meet with her at the entrance before walking up to the Human and the Turian, no one else was paying attention to them, so she figured it was a usual occurrence.

"Get lost, lady," the Turian sneered, his subvocals telling as he neared the end of his patience, she wondered how long the woman had been bothering him.

"My stuff's down there, you asshole!" The human, on the other hand, was pretty easy to read, desperate, angry, smelling of Ozone - something Shepard always associated with Red Sand. "Someone's gonna take it!"

"The plague has the whole zone under quarantined! Nobody gets in!" The growl was definitely threatening this time.

"I'm human you ass! Humans don't get the plague!" The woman snarled right back, ignoring the warning signs.

"Last I heard humans still died from a bullet to the head or a lack of oxygen," Shepard interjected, blinking at the girl. "Aria still has the area under lockdown?" She asked the Turian.

"Yes, she hired us to make sure no one goes in or comes out. Plague's bad for business," the red plated Turian said, glaring at the human in front of him.

"So you're saying the slums are completely sealed off?" She frowned, hoping they still had enough oxygen there, it had been an hour since she had talked to Aria T'Loak, so three hours in total, depending on how many people were still alive down there they would have enough oxygen not to choke, or be on their deathbeds already.

"Finally, a human that can hear." If the red plated Turian could roll his eyes he definitely would, but his tone was definitely sneering. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

“You can’t keep me out, I’m gonna lose all my stuff!” The woman snapped, both Shepard and the Turian ignored her, she wasn't going anywhere and they both knew it.

"There’s a Salarian named Mordin Solus in the slums. I gotta find him." She said, eyeing the Turian, if he proved difficult she could definitely take him down, thought she would rather not.

"The crazy Salarian? Yeah he's down there, thinks he can cure the plague, the Blue Suns weren’t too happy when he moved in." The man shrugged, an up and down and forward of his shoulders that made her stifle a laugh. “I can’t let you in, our orders are to wait until either the plague or the Blue Suns kill everyone, then go in and clean up.”

“Listen, you’re stuck in here until this is over, it could take weeks,” she frowned, stepping up to the Turian, “what you really need is to get this problem solved right now, that’s what I do. Let me in and I’ll get this district straightened out.”

“You think you can fix this?” He narrowed his eyes, eyeing her guns, “ah, why not? The quarantine is to keep the infected in anyway, I’ll radio ahead and tell them you’re going in.”

"You bastard, you're letting her in?" The woman growled, glaring at both of them.

"You don't have a missile launcher, lady, get lost." The Turian dismissed the girl with a glare, turning to Shepard with something akin to an eye roll. "If you go down there I won't be responsible if you get shot."

"I doubt there's anyone down there to shoot me as it is," she shrugged, hearing footsteps heading in her direction before she felt a slight pressure on her back, there was only two people she let do that, and one of them was with the Alliance, the other one was Garrus.

"Suit yourself, Blue Suns and the Vorcha were tearing the place apart on the last update I got." The red platted Turian gave that odd shrug again, Sophia turning back to her crew with raised eyebrows.

"A quarantine zone for a plague that kills Turians," Garrus levelled her with a deadpan look even as they moved away from the Lieutenant guarding the door, she was sure he was an LT, “why don't we ever go anywhere nice?" She bit her lip to keep from smiling at the virtually pouting man in front of her.

"Next time you want a date, make the arrangements yourself Vakarian." She smirked at him before addressing the real issue, "seriously though, how are you to head down there?"

"It's your call, Shepard, but if you need me, I'm not gonna let a cough keep me away." He crossed his arms over his chest, levelling a look at her. She had no idea what it meant, he had never looked at her like that before. "Besides, out of the three of us I know Omega best."

"If not a cough how about your half-shredded face?" she questioned, staring him down.

"Chackwas cleared me up for the ground team, I'm here if you need me," the Turian said, standing at attention.

"Okay,” she drawled, looking between the two men, “so what have you found?" She agreed with a nod, trading a quick look with Garrus, he would be on her ground team, of course he would.

"Virus is airborne as you suspected, Commander," Jacob started, his new dark armour with red highlights turning him into a handsome man, "incubation depends on the species, with Batarians and Quarians being the ones hit the hardest, with a period of seventy-two hours between infection and symptoms, and another of ninety-six hours until they're dead."

"Turians and Krogan are a bit hardier," Garrus said, "symptoms show up earlier, within the hour, but it still takes eleven days for the plague to take us down." He levelled her with the same unreadable look, she was starting to think of it as his 'don't argue with me' look.

"I'm not planning on staying there long enough for it to kill us," Sophia said, heading for the entrance to the Gozu district when Garrus stopped, looking at the guard, Shepard besides him.

The two Turians stopped in front of each other, trading looks, Garrus’ blue eyes on the other Turian's yellow, there were no growls of dominance, no subvocals in place, only two men trying to stare each other down.

"It's your funeral," the guard finally said with a sigh.

"We'll see," Garrus nodded to the other man before signalling the shuttle going down to Gozu and taking the driver's seat, Shepard and Jacob getting in behind him.

"Not a word about my driving, Shepard." The Turian teased, a slight flickering of his mandible, a glance thrown her way.

Sophia made a note to talk to him later about his behaviour, for now she'd play along. "Can't be any worse than Wrex or Kaidan on the Mako," she shrugged, with a slight tilt to the head, “at least you never launched us off a cliff.”

"Spirits I'm never getting in a shuttle or a car with Alenko on the wheels again." The Turian chirped a laugh, "for someone who blends in so easily, you'd never expect him to be an Adrenaline junkie."

"Commander?" Taylor asked, confused, looking between both friends.

"Back during the hunt for Saren I always let the boys take the wheel," she said, "I don't drive military vehicles, and we soon found out Alenko is an adrenaline junkie with a heavy foot." She explained, throwing a smile his way.

"Admit it, you liked us taking the wheel," Garrus snorted, glancing at her again, catching her glancing at him.

"Ha, you wish! I never let him step in the driver’s seat after his stunt on Ilos,” she smiled, sitting back and looking at the brown horizon and the cool light of star in the distance. “I wonder where he is now, Tim said his and Ash’s files were sealed.”

“They are,” Taylor interrupted her musings, drawing a curious glance from the Commander, “we couldn’t reach any of them, well T’Soni was available, but given her ties with the Shadow Broker, The Illusive Man was unwilling to compromise.”

“What ties?” Shepard asked, frowning.

“You’d have to ask The Illusive Man or Miranda, the only thing I know is that a majority of your old crew members were unavailable or unreachable.”

“Yeah, I gathered, I’ll need to train you guys from the ground up.” She sighed, putting up her breather helmet as their car came to a stop and motioning for her boys to do the same, “I have my work cut out for me, that’s for sure.”

“We’re already trained, Commander, Miranda and I-“

“Have no idea what a mission like this entails, you’re treating it as a Suicide mission while I have absolutely no intention of dying again, the first time was bad enough.” She sighed, raising her hand to stop further questions, “we’ll talk about this later, first let’s see what trouble the Professor got himself into.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of adding the year instead of just 'two years ago' and 'now' thoughts?


End file.
